“We feel this bill is trying to steal democracy away from average Canadians,” said local Council of Canadians spokesperson John Dennis.

New election rules concern protesters

More than 20 people marched from the Guelph Farmers’ Market to local Liberal MP Frank Valeriote’s office on Cork Street Saturday to protest the Conservative government’s proposed Fair Elections Act. The Guelph Wellington Coalition for Social Justice and the Guelph chapter of the Council of Canadians co-sponsored the protest. “We feel this bill is trying to steal democracy away from average Canadians,” said local Council of Canadians spokesperson John Dennis. One of his main concerns is that the bill would do away with vouching as a way for people to prove their identity at the polls. This will “disenfranchise the young, the poor and the most vulnerable groups,” Dennis charged. Another main objection to the new bill is that it will take power for investigating political party election offences away from independent electoral officials and place it instead with officials who are responsible to a government minister, he said.